Wonderland to Warland
by jessica.w.campbell
Summary: At 32 Alice's one desire was to return to Wonderland, but like they say, you should be careful for what you wish for. Returning puts Alice and her niece Tilly in the middle of the War of Suits and a secret that explains everything puts them both in danger. Old friends are met and old enemies faced, but can they get back to the real world or will it be off with their heads?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- A Mad Woman**

A white rabbit, a Cheshire cat, a Mad Hatter and a whole load of hearts. Twenty years ago Alice Liddell had an adventure of a life time. An adventure to Wonderland. The things she saw were embedded into her mind; every thought she would have she could connect with her adventures in Wonderland. But that was twenty years ago.

At 32 years of age, Alice had grown up as much as she thought she ever could. She had bought herself a town house in the city and taken up the job of an artist. Her blonde hair was still the same but was always tied into a bun or pony tail, her blue small dress and white apron turned into a long light blue layered everyday dress and a white shawl. Physically she had changed a lot, but she was still a twelve year old inside. She longed to see a white rabbit in a waist coat and for him to lead her to a place she had yearned for.

It was summer and Alice sat in her art room, completing one of her paintings. It was a bed of crimson, golden, scarlet, ruby, sapphire, coral and violet roses circling around a rock on which lay a turquoise caterpillar. Alice just had to finish the clear blue sky and then another part of her dream land would be finished, but would not be hers to keep. As she sung with every brush stroke, a knock came at the door. This was one of the things Alice hated the most- people knocking on her door when she was so close to finishing a painting, it was like no one thought she had things to do. She walked out of her art room, to her landing, down the stairs and to the door. She opened the door to see a tall pale wiry man; his bronze hair shimmered in the ray of sun that was cast on one side of him, his piercing brown eyes captivated Alice.

"I hope I am not interrupting Alice," he smiled as he adjusted his black tailcoat,

"Edgar, I forgot you were coming," Alice gestured him to come in.

Edgar walked in and as Alice started to close the door, she saw something white standing in the street outside and a faint ticking entered her head. _It must be_ Alice thought, _but then again this had happened many times._

"Alice, what seems to be the matter?" asked Edgar,

"The white…" she began, "nothing," she remembered that the last time she mentioned the white rabbit she was almost put in prison for being mad.

She closed the door and walked with Edgar to her living room. The walls were painted burgundy with a black border at the top and bottom, a fire place was the first thing you saw as you entered as it was on the back wall, the fire was dimly glowing, filling the room with the smell of wood and the noise of crackling logs. There was a crimson chaise lounge with golden vine patterns on and a black border and a burgundy upholstered loveseat facing the fire place at an angle, both with a dark brown round side table. An elaborate rug of reds, greens, and blues, black and gold was stretched across the room connecting the window to the door that led to the kitchen. Edgar sat on the upholstered loveseat and crossed his left leg over his right. Alice sat in the chaise lounge; she could still hear the ticking, she partly wanted it to go away and to stop haunting her, but she also wanted it to stay and to have the memory of her greatest adventure. She had given up with putting her hands over her ears or playing music as loud as it would go to drown it out.

"How have you been since the last time I visited?" Edgar asked,

"Content," she replied,

"The truth please, I am not up for these lies today," Edgar uncrossed his legs and looked around as if searching for something interesting.

Alice took a deep breath. After having a therapist since she was 16, she thought she would be used to having to reveal everything in her head on a silver platter, but it just got harder with every session. Yes it helped that she had known Edgar as a child, but he never cared for her feelings- it was like it was all about telling her that she's crazy and her life has been a lie rather than helping her forget her past.

"You do not even care," she snorted,

"What makes you think that? It is my job to care and to make sure that you can live your life as everyone else would like you to,"

"I cannot believe that you have used the word 'care'," Alice put her hand to her head as if fainting from the shock.

"Now you listen here woman, I am not the one who has nearly been put into prison because of their stories, I have known you for over 20 years and ridding you of your demons is what I strive to do, now tell me what is the matter."

She wasn't convinced, the only people she thought cared about her were her niece and sister. She looked at him. He had never said anything so sentimental before, bearing in mind sentimental wasn't really his thing; she was used to Edgar telling her all the bad things she didn't want to hear.

"I saw the white rabbit again," Alice began,

"Not this again," Edgar shook his head,

"I have discovered his presence frequently, every time I see him, automatically a ticking noise enters my head- the ticking of his clock. There is a constant need to follow him whenever he occurs, but it is like the rabbit is the south pole, home is the north pole and I am a magnet unsure of which way to go. More people have been asking for my paintings, but they have all been paintings of Wonderland, I cannot stand painting what I yearn for and then giving it away, a piece of me is given away to a stranger with every purchase. I hate this!"

Tears started to fall down her cheek. She was used to wiping her own tears, but at this point Edgar had made his way to the floor in front of her and was on his knees wiping the tears away for her. Her head fell into her hands as she began to cry. Before she would get headaches after all this, but she had gotten used to it.

"I ran away for my life from a land I thought was beautiful, to a world that is dull and now I no longer have a life," she cried,

"You do. You have family that want you here Alice," Edgar said as he lifted her head up by her chin.

Then it came. The ticking, the laughing,

"And the mome raths outgrabe," she whispered,

"What was that?" Edgar gracefully sat next to her and put his arm around her,

"The Cheshire Cat," Alice bolted up and looked desperately around the room, "he must be here, he _has_ to be. I can here you, now show yourself!"

Nothing showed. Not a purple and pink striped tail, not a pair of big yellow eyes and not a set of grinning white teeth.

"You cannot do this to me at every moment you find is desirable!"

Alice stood in the middle of the room staring up at her white bare ceiling. Edgar got up, took her hand and gave her a handkerchief. Looking at him brought her back to reality, she was reminded of the life she should be living- a life where she is a painter and is well respected. As she brushed the handkerchief down her cheek, Edgar put his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. He was much taller than her, which was demonstrated by how he put his chin on her head and how she could hear the beating of his heart. She had always thought that crying on someone's clothes would be embarrassing; she'd get slobber all over him which would look bad for her and make him look ungentlemanly. After a couple of minutes of crying into his chest, she pulled away and shook as she sat back down on the chaise lounge. Edgar sat on the upholstered loveseat and crossed one leg over the other, trying to recover from the flood of emotions. Looking at him, Alice could tell he wanted to act professional, _he probably finds it embarrassing to have to look after someone so mad _she thought as she straightened out her dress. She knew Edgar was just watching her as she calmed _herself_ down.

"Alice, you have to remember that everything you see or hear is not real," explained Edgar,

"In that case, the whole world isn't real," insisted Alice.

The face he made was priceless. His mouth opened wide but then he pursed his lips together to hold in the humiliation as he realized that she had a valid point.

"You know what I mean Alice, do not twist my words," he snapped,

"I do not know what you mean. You feel that what I see and hear is not real, yet you acknowledge that it is real to me; therefore suggesting that it is real in some sense to you,"

"Now hold on…"

But Alice just rambled on, "Also by saying that I see and hear things not that I _think_ I see and hear things, creates the sense that you are acknowledging that these things may be real in some way or another. However, you have shown strong signs of not believing in what I see and hear, for example forcing me into silence shows that you do not want me to embarrass myself as you feel that I am speaking nonsense. There is also the smirk that weaves itself on to your face when I talk about the white rabbit, which infers that you think what I am saying is complete madness. To conclude, you show signs of both believing and disbelieving, which therefore means that I do not know what you mean."

Alice was amused by the wide eyes of Edgars'. Usually they were quite small, but now they had doubled in size making the piercing brown become more dominating over the rest of his looks. Rambling was a thing she would do when she didn't like what she was hearing, or when she wanted to distract someone or herself. She did know what he meant. But she didn't want to.

"Alice, anything that you think comes from Wonderland is complete and utter nonsense. If you do not get that into that messed up head of yours, you will lose everything you care about and will become the biggest laughing stock of London. You do not seem to understand how your ridiculous stories affect everyone else. Your family become trapped when they are asked about your welfare because when they say that you are well people respond by saying, 'Really, how can you be well when you believe in such absurd stories?' They cannot say how they truly feel about your situation as it would be deceiving you, therefore they respond by changing the topic of conversation completely. I am constantly trying to be patient with you and understanding, but due to you being so stubborn and so convinced that Wonderland is real, I become angry and lose every ounce of sympathy for you. If you are not going to fully agree that Wonderland is complete drivel, then at least meet us half way."

Alice ended up copying the face that Edgar made after her ranting session. She had never thought about how her family were affected; her family lived outside of London and would rarely communicate with her. She bit her lip and looked down at her fiddling fingers. Everything Edgar had said was true, Alice could tell she was losing everything-she only had two friends in London.

"I cannot just abandon something I know in my heart is real," she trembled trying to hold in the tears, "But I won't mention Wonderland in front of anyone, I will only acknowledge its existence when I am on my own. Does that make things better?"

"It's a start," Edgar sighed.

They talked for thirty minutes about how Alice would control her urges to react to the things she saw and heard. Most of the time Alice would shut out Edgars voice and ask herself why she was going to put herself through this. She knew how hard it was going to be- she couldn't just put the Wonderland part of her life in a box and never open it; that would be putting most of her life away. Her art was based on Wonderland, her dreams were only of Wonderland and her mind was a wonderland. If she closed her eyes she could see Wonderland and walk through it; everything would be as she remembered it.

"Alice, are you even paying attention to me?" boomed Edgar,

"Oh sorry, I was just day dreaming about Wonderland," smiled Alice,

"Well stop. Wonderland no longer exists when you are around people,"

"My head _is_ Wonderland; it is the only thing I can think about, why can you not understand that?"

"Because I believe that there is sanity in you," Edgar stood up, "I will not let your life be led by a complete lie."

Alice stood up and looked at him. Even though he was taller, she was ready to slap him around the face and shout at him. To calm herself down, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could smell the fresh newly cut grass and sweet smell of the flower bed in Wonderland and the smoke that invaded her nose when she met the caterpillar. A brightly coloured table full of tea pots, tea cups and saucers entered her head and in the middle of the table was a tall multicoloured top hat. As she smiled at the scene, she opened her eyes and looked at Edgar who had his arms crossed and was giving her the stare of death.

"I think you should leave Edgar, before you blow a fuse," she said as she opened the living room door.

Edgar didn't even reply. He walked towards the door and then looked back at her. She needed him to leave before the dam holding in her tears broke.

"You used to be the happiest girl before this whole Wonderland thing started. Look at yourself now. You are a lonely mad woman and I know that is not who you want to be," he said before going through the door and closing it behind him.

When she heard the front door open then close, she fell onto the chaise lounge and let the river of tears run down her face. She wanted to run after Edgar and tell him how she wanted all of the madness to go away, but she knew that the words wouldn't come out, because they would partially be a lie. If she hadn't gone to Wonderland, there would be no madness, she wouldn't have an exciting part to her life and she wouldn't have anything interesting to paint. As she wiped the tears off her face, the ticking came along with the Cheshire Cat's singing. She looked around the whole room, hoping to see a golden clock or a striped tale. But, like every other time before, she didn't. She thought of what Edgar had said, _you are a lonely mad woman,_ and as she looked in the mirror and tried to block out everything she could hear, she realized that he was right.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- A Jewel and a Journey**

"Tilly, we're waiting for you," shouted Lorina Rowan, Tilly's mum.

"I will soon be there, mother," replied Tilly and she studied herself in the mirror.

Every year, the Rowan family would throw a ball to celebrate the season and to see all their friends and family. It usually involved Tilly having to wear one of her mother's old dresses and having to talk to uninteresting men to keep her parents happy.

As she looked into her bedroom mirror, the golden embroidered floral pattern on her jasmine dress reflected the light from chandelier, to create the illusion of the dress glowing. The shape of her waist was created by a corset and the crinoline under the skirt of her dress made her feel much bigger. The skirt was made of three layers with the top layer gathered on both sides of her hips, revealing the second layer. The sleeves were puffed with white cloud edged lace at the ends and started just under her shoulders making space for a golden necklace. Rings decorated her fingers as if they were sparkling decorations on small delicate pale Christmas trees and her dark cinnamon brown hair was tied into a bun, with some of her hair creating a plait that snaked its way around the bun. She brushed her rounded cheeks that were dusted with ruby with her fingers, _I wish I was as beautiful as my mother _she thought, _but this will just have to do_.

As she stepped into her golden slippers, she heard a faint ticking enter her head. She looked around for her clock to then remember that it had been taken away to be repaired. As it got louder, she saw a white figure on her purple bed looking at her as if expecting something. She couldn't move. Her eyes were fixated on it. After rubbing her eyes a couple of times, she saw that the white figure had tall ears and the smooth white of its fur was disrupted by an amber waistcoat, a dark red blazer, a rosewood bowtie and grey trousers. When she looked into its bulging pink eyes, she realized, _this is the white rabbit Aunt Alice always rambles on about_. Her Aunt Alice would always go on about a white rabbit, but Tilly was always told to take no notice of her tales. The rabbit took out a golden clock, which was connected to its waist coat by a golden chain, and tapped it three times.

"Don't be late, open the gate," the rabbit said, still tapping the clock,

"I am hallucinating, rabbits cannot talk, even I know that and I am forced to read books with no pictures or dialogue," Tilly whispered as she inhaled and exhaled heavily.

She looked around her room, _everything_ had disappeared. Her four poster bed that would have been against the side wall stretching into the middle of the room was gone. Her intricately designed oak wardrobe and chest of draws that would have been opposite her bed, the mirror that she had just looked into, everything had just…gone! It was just her and the white rabbit in an unfilled room with bare vanilla walls and a sienna brown floor. Strangely, Tilly did not panic. Although there was something in her head telling her that she had to be dreaming, most of her head was controlled by a voice that told her the white rabbit was familiar to her and nothing to be scared of.

"What do you want from me rabbit?" she asked while edging closer to him,

"Hearts rule, clubs start to fade, with a touch of a hand, everything could change," replied the rabbit; pointing to his clock again,

"Would you please stop speaking in rhyme, if you haven't noticed, I really do not have the time," Tilly was quickly losing her temper.

The white rabbit did not reply, he simply pointed again to his clock, which had struck six o'clock, and disappeared. Tilly was left staring at the spot where he had stood on her bed. As the furniture came back, she saw the print of two giant rabbit feet on her bed and in the middle of them, was a small pocket clock. It was golden with a long chain, the back of it was engraved with roses and in the middle was what looked like a clover.

"Tilly, you are taking too long!" shouted her mother,

"Sorry mother," Tilly called back as she grabbed the clock and put in under her pillow.

The ballroom was the single most beautiful thing in the whole of the manor. The cream and crimson walls had a pattern with gold on as well as being rimmed with it. Portraits of monarchs and family members hung on the highest part of the walls and the ceiling was covered with the iconic scene of heaven and naked babies as well as six chandeliers hanging down. The maple wood floor showed you your reflection and shimmered under the light casted by the chandeliers. Along the back wall were tables holding glasses of champagne and wine as well as horderves. People danced in unison, creating swirls of every colour lit by the light of the room.

Tilly was standing by the table with champagne on, talking to her father, when her mother came along with two strangers. There was a woman who looked like her mother but wasn't as pale and instead of wearing a blue dress, she was wearing a green dress with white ribbons. As Tilly's eyes glanced over to the tall figure next to her, she could not believe her eyes. He was exactly like the princes she had written about in her diary, his oak brown hair was slicked back and complemented his golden luminous eyes. His skin was fair and his cheeks were slightly rounded. This was a match that Tilly wanted for once.

"Tilly I would like you to meet Victoria Wakefield and her son Jasper Wakefield," smiled Lorina,

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you," Jasper said graciously as he took Tilly's hand and kissed it.

His lips were soft and his grip made her feel secure. As he kissed her hand he looked up at her and his golden eyes met hers. His eyes twinkled as if they were tiny stars preserved in a perfect version of a human being.

"The pleasure is mine," Tilly felt herself blushing as she bit her lip.

She turned to her mother and gave her the sneaky thumbs up which was a thumbs down many times before.

"How about you both go dance while Mrs Wakefield and I have a chat," Lorina's way of saying _enjoy your prize._

Jasper led her to the centre of the ballroom and put his hand on her waist. Butterflies started to flutter as if an electric pulse had gone through them in her stomach as her hand interlocked with his. They danced together, laughing, talking and sharing embarrassing stories about their parents. He was a complete delight, Tilly didn't have long to find someone but Jasper might have been the one to end her search. But her happiness came to end when it started again- the ticking. The sound of it took over the sound of the music, Jasper talking and everyone laughing. She carried on dancing but franticly twisted her head to see if anyone else could hear it.

"Are you okay Tilly?" asked Jasper,

"I am quite alright. I just remembered I was meant to send an invitation to someone and I am now worried that they have not arrived," it was the best lie Tilly could think of.

"You look quite pale," Jasper stopped them from dancing and led her to the side of the ballroom,

"Jasper, I am always pale, however I do feel quite hot under all these lights," the ticking was fading but was still there with every word she said,

"Then we shall go outside for a while."

Jasper and Tilly walked out of the ballroom and out of the main door to the manor. Outside was beautiful. The silk oxford blue sky was ornamented with white diamond stars and a pearl moon. The drive way outside of the manor was lit by fairy lights which also twisted and turned around some of the trees. There was a water fountain in the middle of the drive way; water poured out of the mouths of four dolphins which circled around the centre piece of the fountain- a mermaid. Jasper and Tilly sat on the edge of the fountain. His golden eyes shined as bright as the stars in the sky and as he brushed Tilly's hand, the butterflies started up again.

"I am sorry if I have been forced upon you, my mother had rambled on about you while we were travelling here," Jasper said as he took her hand and stroked it with his thumb,

"For once, I am glad that you were forced upon me, you have been a delight all evening," Tilly admitted,

"In that case, I hope to see you again. There is a political meeting taking place in London and my parents are adamant on me bringing you with me,"

"Of course I shall join you."

As they stared into each other's eyes and played with each other's fingers, the white rabbit burst through the manor doors. Tilly bolted up, letting go of Jaspers hand in an instant.

"Tilly, why is there a white rabbit staring at us and why is he wearing human clothes?" Jasper asked as he slowly got up behind her and put his arm around her waist, pulling her into his chest.

His grip on her waist was firm and the sensation of his chest rising and falling on her back sent shivers down her spine. She looked up at him to see a confused face that hadn't lost its colour despite the shock.

"I have seen it before, it talked to me," she recalled,

"The clubs clock," the rabbit said, stopping five feet away from her, "Run and do not stop."

Tilly remembered the pocket clock that the white rabbit had left on her bed. She had thought that there was a clover design on the back, but it wasn't, it was a clubs design. Before she could even question the rabbit, Alice ran out the doors to stop suddenly behind the white rabbit.

"There you are you white pest. Tell me why you have been following me everywhere," Alice demanded.

Her light blue ball gown looked like Tilly's but was much simpler. Alice's blonde hair was tucked under itself and created waves and on her face was a look of anger as well as surprise and it was clear why. This was the white rabbit she had always talked about and she wasn't the only one seeing him for once. The white rabbit did not turn to look at Alice; his eyes were fixated on Tilly as if waiting for something.

"What am I meant to do?" Tilly asked looking into the eyes of the rabbit,

"Follow me to begin your journey," the rabbit said, still standing in the same spot.

Tilly turned to face Jasper, both of his arms were around her and he was looking at her worryingly,

"Jasper, you do understand that I must follow the rabbit?" she looked up at him,

"Of course you must. I will come for you at 8am tomorrow, I expect you to be here," he looked down at her with a caring look she had never seen from anyone,

"I shall be here," she kissed his cheek, "Tell my parents that I have gone to bed and that we had the most delightful time."

Jaspers arms unravelled from around her waist and Tilly walked towards the white rabbit.

"Wait here please and Aunt Alice, come with me," she said as she grabbed Alice's arm and pulled her along up to her bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- The Path to the Country of Hearts**

Alice didn't care for being pulled around by her niece, but then again, they never really acted like an aunt and niece should. Alice loved being with Tilly, they would talk about Lorina's bad points and paint together in the garden. Ever since Tilly had moved into the manor, Alice felt attracted to it, as if it was a place she was meant to be but just couldn't. When they got up the stairs to Tilly's room, Alice was amazed by what her room looked like. Vanilla walls were covered in paintings of flowers, other people and fantasy lands, and the oak dresser was decorated with perfume bottles, necklaces and rings. The centre piece was the four poster bed- the foot of it was made of intricate curves and the purple created a royal feel to the room.

Tilly pushed her arm under her pillow to reveal a golden pocket clock. It looked like the white rabbits but was engraved with patterns and had the clubs symbol in the middle. Tilly put it around her neck and held it, admiring the detail. She then sprang to life with a cough from Alice and they both ran to the outside of the manor. No one bothered to stop them as they ran through the house; Lorina just smiled and discarded them. When they got outside, Jasper ran towards them _he is not running towards us, he is running towards Tilly_ she reminded herself.

"Be safe and get me a souvenir," he joked as he put his arms around Tilly,

"Of course," Tilly smiled, "Thank you for everything-making tonight a joy and keeping this a secret."

Jasper kissed her head and both their eyes closed. Alice watched them with sadness- she wanted someone to care for her the way Jasper cared for Tilly, and they had only just met each other. She suddenly remembered the white rabbit and looked around frantically to not see him whatsoever. Without thinking of telling Tilly, she ran round the side of the manor to an immense stretch of land. At the back of the manor was a field of green that stretched into the woods that partly encased the manor. In front of where the woods started, the grass was knee high and the lilac and white dots of flowers became more frequent. She heard something familiar come from inside the woods,

"And the mome raths outgrabe."

The Cheshire Cat had to be in there. She knew there was a chance of not seeing him like every other time she had heard him, but she wasn't going to give up. She shouted for Tilly, who ran to her with a confused look on her face.

"The white rabbit disappeared, but I have a feeling that the way to get to Wonderland is through there," Alice explained pointing to the woods.

As she did so, the white rabbit appeared in front of the woods. He didn't say anything; he hopped into the woods without waiting for them to follow. Alice grabbed Tilly's hand,

"Do not let go, I will not lose you," Alice said as they started running through the garden and into the woods.

Green leaves hit Alice's arm as she pushed them out the way to clear a path and get a better view of where the white rabbit was going. The wind hit her with all its force, taking the breath out of her and slowing her down. After a breath taking run, they came to a clearing in the middle of the woods. There was a circle of grass, knee high, and it was surrounded by tall, thick trunked trees. The white rabbit stood in front of one of the trees and stamped his foot three times. After the third stamp, the tree twisted, green sparks flew around it and an arch way was created in the trunk. The arch way was big enough for the rabbit to walk through, but Alice knew that she'd have to crawl through and would get her favourite blue dress dirty. As she looked into the arch way, she could see a red and black swirl and hearts, diamond, spades and clubs flying around each other. The white rabbit shot into the arch way, becoming part of the swirl then disappearing.

"The first thing we do when we get through to the other side is find each other," Alice said as she inhaled deeply.

The smell of smoke mixed with the freshness of the grass filled her nose, making her feel somewhat calm in a way. Tilly nodded and looked at Alice. Alice knew she was to be the one to go first, any colour that was in Tilly's face had gone, whereas she felt calm and collected. She kissed Tilly's cheek and walked up to the tree. As she got on her knees, wind from the swirling portal blew into her face making her turn her face away. She looked back at Tilly and smiled as she crawled forward and entered the swirling portal.

For a second, all Alice could see was black and red, until everything became calm and she was slowly falling. Unlike the first time when she went through the portal, there were no items that reminded her of home, instead there were swords, armour and ash floating around her as she fell. Everything seemed dark apart from the shining silver that came off the swords and a couple of candles that revealed the roots and vines in the soil walls. The two things that felt familiar were the ticking of a clock in the back ground and the abrupt ending as she hit the ground hard. She groaned as she rubbed her legs and got to her feet. The ground was black and even though it was hard, there was black mud on over the top. When she looked around, there were walls either side of her, both made of twisting contorted roses with black stems rather than green. The sky was dark and had crows flying across it. She saw a sign dug into the ground a couple of meters in front of her; it said _The Country of Hearts_.

"How it has changed," Alice muttered to herself as she walked to the wall of roses and stroked it with her fingers, being careful of the thorns.

A sudden thud came behind her curtsey of Tilly landing on her bottom. She pulled her hands out of the thick black mud with a face of disgust which made Alice laugh a bit. Against the blackness, Tilly looked even paler and as if she was the only light thing that would ever be seen there.

"I thought you said that Wonderland was beautiful. When I think of the word 'beautiful' I do not think of black mud and a sky as dark the devils soul," Tilly ranted as she got up and cleaned her hands on her dress.

Alice just laughed as she started walking down the black path and all the memories came back to her.

"We're painting the roses red, we're painting the roses red," she sung to herself.

After walking for a five minutes, Tilly started to become complaisant about how her shoes, dress and feet were getting muddy.

"Just rip off the bottom of your dress," Alice suggested as they stopped for a break,

"What would my mother say if she saw this dress ripped? I do not think telling her that I had to, because in Wonderland there was a lot of mud getting on the dress will stop her from getting angry," Tilly replied,

"Use the pins from your hair and pin the dress up."

Tilly shrugged her shoulders and then Alice helped her take the pins out of her hair and pin her dress up so it was just under her knees. Tilly's hair unravelled and tumbled down to her hips, letting the curls and ringlets at the end of her hair fall free. In the slight breeze that hit them, Tilly's hair blew into Alice's face like silk, soft tentacles that smelt like lavender. As they started walking again, Alice heard a faint sound, but this time it wasn't ticking. It was the sound of metal clanging together, the stomping of at least fifty men, and the barking of hounds. She clasped Tilly's hand, not realizing how strong her grip was, and turned around slowly to see the Queen of Hearts's soldiers coming towards them. They were dressed head to toe in the silver armour Alice had seen while falling through the portal with hearts on their chest, two of the front soldiers were holding a flag with hearts on, while the rest were holding their swords up vertically by their sides. The barking was not coming from hounds, but from beasts that resembled tigers, only black, without the stripes and more dog like.

"RUN!" Alice shouted as she ran forward, letting go of Tilly's hand.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- The Pain of Living**

Even though Tilly thought she was running quite fast, the soldiers coming towards them seemed to cover much more ground, gaining on them with every footstep. Alice was holding up her dress as she ran, whereas Tilly didn't have to worry about her dress, making her run faster. The crinoline and the corset made running even harder- the soldiers didn't have that problem. As she ran, she spotted a whole in the left wall of roses. It was big enough for her and Alice to crawl through but she didn't know if they had the time. After the stories that Alice had told her about the soldiers of Hearts they didn't seem very pleasant, therefore going through the hole was there best chance to get away from them.

"There's a hole in the wall, we should be able to get through," Tilly shouted back to Alice.

As she turned to see her, Alice tripped and landed on her chest, her head nearly hitting the muddy ground as well. Tilly started to run back when Alice exclaimed,

"Go on. I know how to cope with Wonderland whereas you do not. I shall be fine, just go through the hole and be safe!"

Tilly inhaled heavily and lifted up her dress to find the ribbon that fastened her crinoline together. After undoing the ribbon it took a few tugs until it budged and when it did she had to hold onto the prickly vines and jump to get herself out of it. She ran to the opening of the hole. She could see through it to another walled path exactly like the one she was on.

"There is no need to be so violent," said Alice.

Tilly turned around to see the soldiers pick Alice up.

"Don't let the other one get away!" demanded one of the soldiers, which was a signal for Tilly to get a move on.

She ducked into the hole, getting her hair and dress stuck on some of the thorns. A tiger like hound grabbed her leg with its jaws, making her scream in pain. It tugged at her leg dragging her away from the exit to safety. She turned on her back and put her hands to its head. Smoke came from where her hands and the hounds head met forcing the hound to scream in as much pain as she was. She crawled through the exit of the hole, dragging her leg behind her. It was a struggle to get up and once she realized that Alice was no longer with her, it suddenly got much colder. Tears fell down her cheek as she walked up the path in agony. She couldn't bring herself to look at her leg; she imagined seeing tooth marks that tore open her flesh revealing bone and pierced veins. She could feel the blood stream onto her foot and the more blood she felt leave her leg, the more agony she felt all over her body until she fell on the ground screaming and begging for mercy.

"I promise I will do anything God, please just make this stop. If I am to die here, at least grant Alice life and safety!"

While she lay there struggling to get up, she thought of Jasper and her parents. _Be safe_ Alice had said to her, advice she should've listened to. She sat herself up and looked down at her leg. The beast that had bitten her leg had bitten right through the flesh and almost the bone of her leg. A chunk of flesh was missing from where it had dragged her with full force and scraped some of her flesh into its mouth. Her thigh was turning into a pale green, but the rest of her leg and her foot was scarlet red with patches of black from where she had dragged it. Looking at it made her cough and look the other way. Moving hurt like hell, as if the pain from her leg was spreading slowly everywhere. She collapsed back down to the ground and when she looked up, the dark sky, dotted with crows, started to spin and become blurry, while breathing started to become something of an effort and painful. She heard the sound of footsteps coming towards her, but instead of trying to get away, she just lay there, waiting for them to take her away and hopefully release her from the pain.

"It would be best if we took her to the castle for interrogation," said one man with a deep a rusty voice,

"No, we shan't have that," responded another voice.

This man's voice had an almost natural soft croakiness to it, which Tilly quite liked. However the man's voice was calm and did well to sooth Tilly in some way or another.

"I myself shall take her to someone who can deal with this sort of thing," he said as he got closer to her.

Tears were falling down Tilly's face at an uncontrollable rate as the man squatted by her side. She couldn't see his face or his body unless she turned her head to the side, which would've hurt too much.

"What is your name?" he whispered to her,

"Tilly Rowan," she replied, trying to use as little air as possible.

His hand graced her forehead. Even though his hand was cold, it stopped the heat that was going through her and its softness made breathing just a bit easier.

"Tilly, everything will be alright, I shall take you to a safe place where you will get better."

She soon felt strong, muscle built arms slide under her back and lift her up. She tried to see who was holding her but everything was becoming contorted and strange- the dark sky had transformed into a sky of yellow with swirling reds and blues and the vines of the roses were snakes slithering around each other with giant red eyes that wouldn't stop staring at her. Closing her eyes didn't help, rather than seeing black, she saw a pair of two massive yellow eyes and a white ginning smile that laughed at her. She'd rather look at the spinning sky, but she had lost the strength to even open her eyes. She was mounted onto a horse and then felt the man hop on behind her and pulled her onto his lap.

"Tell mother I have had some business to attend to, but do not mention what," he shouted as the horse took off with great speed.

The pain in her body was becoming unbearable. Her body started shaking; she couldn't control it. At some points her body couldn't decide how to react to the pain, it would shake, and then decide to tense up as if it was paralysed and then it would flop like every bone in her body had suddenly disappeared. Breathing became the biggest struggle, when she breathed in a searing pain pierced through her heart and when she breathed out; she shook which caused even more pain. How could living hurt so much?

"Please stay with me," the man begged, but she couldn't guarantee that she would.

She was sitting in between the man's legs with her back flopped against his chest and her head resting back on his shoulder. He was holding her up while constantly checking her temperature and slapping her to keep her awake. Even though she was uncertain of where she was going, she was certain of one thing- she wouldn't see Jasper or her family again. As that thought lingered in her head, another scream left her mouth; this time it was full of more pain than before and was much weaker. She had accepted that this was the sign for one thing. She wasn't going to live.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- A Reencounter **

"If you do not mind, I would like to walk at a much slower pace," Alice said while looking at the soldiers.

She was walking in the middle of them with two either side, holding her arms with a grip like a python getting ready to eat her whole. None of the soldiers looked at her or even acknowledged her existence.

"Soldiers, I would like it if you replied," Alice was getting impatient with the silence of them,

"We are not soldiers, we are the Hearted Knights of the Queen of Hearts and you are being taken in for interrogation," the knight to the left of her explained,

"Well I am very tired and I am wearing a very uncomfortable crinoline, so if we could just slow down, that would be great."

The knight sighed and slowed down along with the rest of the circle of knights.

When Alice entered the palace, she was surprised by how big it was. The walls were made of grey marble that swirled, in the middle of each swirl was a heart and the walls stretched up so high that you couldn't see where they met the dark ceiling. There were lines of red pillars that created three sections to the room- two sections for the knights to stand and the middle section for the queen and king's thrones. From the huge double doors that Alice entered through, there was a scarlet carpet lined with gold that led across the floor, up a couple of steps and under the red and gold thrones. Obviously the back of the thrones were shaped like giant hearts and Hearted Knights stood either side of them. As she walked up the red isle, the Queen of Hearts studied her as if she was the cover of a book, tilting her head side to side and making confused faces.

"Who are you and what is your business in the Country of Hearts?" demanded the queen,

"My name is Alice Liddell and I came here via a portal," Alice calmly replied.

The Queen instantly stood up and made her way towards Alice. Her dress was red with black rose patterns on and shoulder pads that hugged her neck. The skirt of her dress was massive. There was a parting in the middle that revealed a black layer with red hearts on and the dress trailed off at the back by at least six feet. The whole dress was made of velvet and was rimmed with a saffron yellow border. The queen's skin was milk like but the smoothness that should've been there was lost making her look tired and old. She walked around Alice, circling her with her nose high in the air.

"Where did you find her?" the queen said,

"On the third east path, your majesty," replied one of the knights.

"You look familiar," the queen said looking intently at Alice.

_She might as well be trying to look into my soul_ thought Alice. She could've easily said she was that girl from twenty years ago that she wanted to execute, but she wanted to see another day. She stood with her back straight even though all she wanted to do was flop to the floor and sleep.

"Are you a spy?" the queen asked,

"Of course not, that occupation would take too much effort to follow through," Alice sighed.

The queen shrugged and went to sit back, next to her husband, on her throne. She called over a man who was dressed all in black with the only colour being a red heart medallion around his neck. His hair was black with silver streaks in that reflected the small amount of light that was coming through. As she watched the queen whisper into the man's ear, something appeared on her shoulder. A white grinning smile and a pair of hypnotising yellow eyes were both followed by a hysteric laugh. A body then slowly faded in. It was the body of a cat with pink and purple stripes covering it, a fluffy tail and pointed ears. Its head tilted from side to side, each time turning a full 180 degrees.

"Since when did you get back?" it said while gazing into her eyes,

"Less than an hour ago. Why, have you missed me, Cheshire Cat?" Alice replied a bit too loudly.

The Queen shot her head in Alice's direction and stood with a face of disgust as well as confusion.

"What did you just say?" she boomed as she walked towards her,

"The cat on your shoulder….your majesty. The Cheshire Cat," the words stumbled out of Alice's mouth,

"The Cheshire Cat?!" the Queen interrupted, "_you_ can see it?"

"Yes I can, he's right there- on your shoulder," Alice pointed to where the Cheshire Cat rested.

His head was bobbing up and down and his tail was swinging side to side as if trying to hypnotise Alice. He was singing that nonsense song he had always sung when he appeared which was pared with his nonsense expression.

"You shall come with me," the Queen said as she stood next to her, "Meanwhile, I would like to discover the whereabouts of my son as well as that white rabbit, or mark my words, someone's head will be meeting a very sharp guillotine!"

She put her hand on Alice's back, turned her around and walked with her through a long corridor. The wallpaper was black with grey felt creating the outline of hearts, the floor was made up of little squares of rosewood and black, _any normal mundane person would say red and black_ Alice thought as they walked in silence. The walls were lined with black doors with bolts and locks covering them. The Queen took a brass key from under the top layer of her dress and stroked her finger over it. The neck of the key was like the stem of a rose, the end of it was heart shaped and the head of the key looked like a normal one but the two bars that came off were in the shape of leaves. Once it had penetrated the lock, the chains snaked around each other and the locks unlocked themselves. The door then swung open to reveal a dark room that was lit by candles that lit up one by one.

There was a desk towards the back of the room, the bottom of its legs were the heads of the hound like beasts that threatened to attack Alice before, the whole thing was seal brown and rimmed with gold. Behind the desk was a tall chair that was similar to the extravagant throne of the queen, but was made of wood and didn't have as much detail. The back was shaped as a heart and a red heart shaped cushion was perched upon it. The queen gestured for Alice to sit in a plain black wooden chair that was in front of the desk. As both she and the queen sat in their allocated seat, the queen took out a black wand with a heart on the end and swirled it in the direction of a wide black fire place. A lava and scarlet red fire roared up, the flames seemed to try to reach the wand while swirling around each other.

"I have spent over ten years looking for the Cheshire Cat and not once has he revealed himself to _me_. You see the Cheshire Cat is the Ace of Diamonds and the Country of Diamonds is now under _my_ rule. However he does not allow me to see him and it has been said that only certain people are allowed to see the aces of countries," the Queen stroked her wand gazing at it as if it was the most powerful thing in the world.

"What do you mean by 'special people'?" Alice asked,

"It is said that each ace of a country chose people from the over layer to posses powers, like the ability to see them."

_I'm special?_ Alice thought. She would usually use the word 'mad' to describe herself, not 'special'. Throughout the queen's speech, Alice kept analysing the desk- it was an artist thing. There was a stack of cards in the left front corner of the desk with intricate designs on the back. Placed on a red cushion was a golden ball that glowed with red streaks circling around it to give it rings like Saturn. It was beautiful.

"That is the eternal golden ball of power; it is what keeps the Hearted Knights from dying" the Cheshire Cat said as he appeared on the window sill behind the queen.

He was scanning his claws; sharpening one after making a face of surprise. His body was resting against the side of the window sill and it was almost in a 90 degree angle with his tail swishing between his chubby and small legs.

"Alice, you said you came through a portal. What we call gateways of aces can only be created by aces, so who opened the gateway that you passed through?" the Queen asked,

"Well the white rabbit of course," Alice replied.

The Cheshire Cat chuckled as his body disappeared leaving just his head,

"Good old queeny is not going to like that," he laughed as his head of grinning teeth floated up then back down to the other side of the window sill and the rest of his body returned in the same sitting position as before.

"MY ACE OF HEARTS?!" the Queen shrieked as she got to her feet and slammed her hand on the desk.

Alice was taken back and slightly panicked as she didn't want to end up with her head being chopped off,

"Yes, your majesty. However he disappeared when I landed here."

The Queen sat back down, inhaled deeply then allowed a smile to grow on her face,

"Alice, you are valuable to me in a time of war and I would like it if you were by my side as no other country possesses someone like you."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- The Ace of Clubs**

When Tilly woke up, she was greeted by the feeling of limpness; it was almost as if all the bones in her body had taken a vacation. She felt light headed and there seemed to be little light in the room she lay in. The ceiling was soil with roots dangling down and the smell of lavender and freshly cut grass danced in and out of her nose. As she lifted her head, she saw a pair of honey hands coated with patches of black dirt over a damp white cloth that covered her injured leg. There seemed to be a six inch long dip in her leg which was where the flesh of her leg used to be until it was scraped clean off. The sight of it made her feel like she could throw up, but nothing would come out. A light green mist rose from the cloth and seeped through the spaces between the pair of large hands and words were spoken so quietly that even straining her ears didn't help. Something seemed to rise from the dent in her leg as she felt a tingling spread through her body. The cloth became darker and rose higher until it was a dark blackish green and level with the rest of her leg. The cloth was lifted and her leg was back to normal. Tilly sat straight up and stared at her leg in awe with her mouth open wide. She looked at the man who was sitting on a creaky wooden chair next to her bed. He had dark brown hair that flicked out under a hunter green top hat and he wore a long copper leather jacket with a blue bow tie. His eyes were black- matching the smudges on his jacket and his cheeks, which were very slender. He looked as if he hadn't had a proper meal in years.

"Are you alright dear?" his voice was soft and the words sounded as if they were sung rather than said,

"I feel better, but I am quite thirsty," she replied as she looked around.

The walls, floor and ceiling were all made of soil and there was little light that came from some candles on one of the walls. Next to her bed was a meter long wooden table with a mug of clear sky blue liquid with dots of lavender and lime green leaves in. Placed on the table was also a stack of cards and the clock necklace that Tilly was wearing before. She was lying on a bed made by a wooden frame, some sacks filled with something almost fluffy and a soft thin sheet. Her pillow was itchy but she was just glad to be alive. The man handed her the mug of liquid and watched her as she drank.

"This tastes nice, what is it?" Tilly asked as she took another sip,

"Tea of course. Tea makes everything better," the man said, "including the fact that it is one of the only things I can make well."

Tilly held the glass and thought hard. She remembered her Aunt Alice telling her about someone who seemed fascinated by tea, but what was his name?

"You're the Mad Hatter!" Tilly realized,

"Keep your voice down; people are sleeping and it's just Hatter. I have no idea where people got the mad part from," he said as he slowly went cross-eyed.

Tilly watched him and giggled. How someone so mad fixed her leg with ease she would never know. As she drank the last of her tea, she remembered the man who had picked her up and held her. His voice was different to Hatter's and even though she hadn't seen the man, she knew that he wasn't Hatter.

"Who was the man that brought me here?" she asked as she put the empty mug back on the table,

"That I cannot say miss," Hatter got up and crawled on the floor while patting it. It was an odd sight, but then again, he wasn't called the _Mad_ Hatter for nothing.

"Please tell me, I would like to thank him personally as he took part in the effort to save my life," Tilly begged as she watched him.

He shook his head and hit the ground hard. Dust rose up as a clanking sounds came from under the dirt. Hatter clapped and giggled with pride before pushing away the dirt to reveal a silver metal box that was ensnared in chains with no lock. He took the card from his hat and placed it over the chains, this made them shake furiously until the card was lifted off and they flew into the air and fell to the ground. The lid of the metal box then slowly opened and Hatter plunged his arms into it. He threw a scroll onto Tilly's lap and gestured her to open it. She untied the black ribbon that was wrapped around the parchment scroll, which was smudged with dirt, and unrolled it. It read:

_The King and Queen of the Country of Clubs declares Hatter as their Ace of Clubs. He is to be honoured with the power to be able to open gateways to the over layer and to have all of nature on his side. It is his duty to protect the people of the Country of Clubs as well as choose someone from the over layer to represent our country. This person should have a mind that is open to every wonder of the world and a heart that is pure. The King and Queen of the Country of Clubs congratulates Hatter and wishes him a life worth living._

"Well done Hatter! Who did you choose to represent the Country of Clubs?" Tilly said as she rolled the scroll up and tied the ribbon around it.

Hatter smiled as he took the scroll from her, put it back in the metal box and sat on the chair that was next to the bed.

"What do you think this is?" Hatter asked as he picked up Tilly's clock necklace and swayed it side to side,

"A clock attached to a necklace with nice carvings?" Tilly thought it was a stupid question,

"This is the Clubs Clock. This controls the time at which you return to the over layer. You could leave at 5pm and decide to come back at 4am the next day, although you would miss out on a good amount of sleep. Every ace has a clock which belongs to their country and gives it to the people they choose from the over layer, which in this case, is you."


End file.
